Ryan Returns
by ctoan
Summary: [One shot]Kirsten is surprised when Ryan shows up again.


Kirsten stood at the kitchen sink, staring out the window at the pool house, which was occupied again. She couldn't believe it. He'd come back. She just wished the homecoming had gone a bit better. Because he went straight to the pool house and hasn't been out in the past hour. She knew she should really go talk to him. She just kept replaying it in her mind.

Sandy had had a big grin on his face for the past two days. She kept asking him what was going on, but he wouldn't tell her. She knew Seth wouldn't be home for another two weeks. He had ended up in Portland, with Luke, and had gotten their permission to stay for the summer. She was OK with that. She knew where he was, she could call him whenever she wanted (and did), and she talked to Carson to get updates about things that Seth might not tell her.

_They were in the living room. She was reading a magazine; Sandy was trying to sit still, but he was so antsy. She heard the door open and, though she didn't think it possible, Sandy's grin got wider. She turned around and her heart caught in her throat. She hadn't seen him since he left after the wedding. He was tanner – he was working construction, or so Sandy told her. His hair was in need of trim. He looked like he might have grown an inch or two. He was carrying his bag, the one he had left with in the spring. _

"_Are you back to stay?" was all she could get out. She hadn't meant it to sound accusatory, at least not to him. If she was mad at anyone, it was Sandy for not telling her he was coming back. But she realized how it must have sounded when he took a slight step back. _

_He looked at Sandy questioningly. "You didn't tell her?"_

_Sandy, with his goofy grin, didn't seem to notice his uneasiness. He walked over and put his arm around Ryan's shoulders, his grin never wavering. "I wanted it to be a surprise. Great surprise, huh?"_

_He eyed her warily, as though gauging his reaction to hers. But she was frozen. She had a dozen questions swirling through her brain. Where was Theresa? What about the baby? Did he know how much they missed him? The problem was that these questions left her immobile, unable to react to the fact that he was actually here. Home. Then he acted faster than she reacted, and suddenly he was walking toward the backdoor. "I'm gonna go..." He pointed toward the pool house._

_Sandy agreed, oblivious. "Good idea. Go get settled. We'll order from that Mexican place you like for supper. How's that sound?"_

_He had just nodded, and then gone out the door._

Sandy came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. He nuzzled her neck. "I'm going to pick up supper. Do you want those chicken enchiladas you love?"

She turned around and buried her head in his chest. "He hasn't come inside yet."

"He will. He's probably just getting settled."

"And you don't know why..."

"No, like I told earlier..."

Kirsten had been in shock, and hadn't moved from where she stood when Ryan had been in the room. She knew she had handled it wrong. It was just so sudden. "What happened?" Of all the questions in her head, that's the only one she could get out.

"_He didn't really say." _

_Kirsten couldn't believe this. Well, she could, because it was Ryan. But she couldn't believe that Sandy hadn't asked him, hadn't forced it out of him. Sandy was supposed to know. Sandy was the one who talked to him. Sandy was the one he talked to._

"_He just said Theresa went to Atlanta." Sandy was still bouncing with excitement. "He'll tell us. When he's ready."_

_Kirsten wanted to be excited, like Sandy. But she had just gotten used to him not being around. Had just reconciled herself with only having one teenager in the house come fall. Had just pushed past the pain of losing him. The hurt of him leaving had flooded back with the excitement of seeing him come home._

She heard the front door close as Sandy left. She turned back toward the window, continued to stare at the pool house. She took a deep breath and walked out the back door, across the patio. She hesitated for a moment before she knocked, then waited for his "It's open" before she opened the door.

"Sandy just went out to pick up supper." She saw him sitting on the bed, leaning on the headboard. "You put the sheets on."

He looked embarrassed. "Yeah, well, there weren't any on it, and..."

She smiled at him. "Rosa will have Sandy's head for not telling her you were coming home so she could get your room ready."

He nodded. "Did you? Have Sandy's head for not telling you?"

"No. I was glad to see you."

He looked like he didn't believe her.

She sat down tentatively at the end of the bed. "I was really upset the day you left."

He was staring at some dirt on his jeans. "Well, with Seth running away like that, I can understand."

"No. Before I found out Seth was gone. When _you_ left."

He started to scrape at the spot on his jeans. "It felt like the first time."

Kirsten looked at him, not quite understanding what he was saying, but he wouldn't look up.

"When Sandy first brought me here, when he first told you about me. How you looked today? That's how I imagined you looked."

She didn't know what to say. They had never acknowledged her initial reluctance to him staying with them. She certainly didn't feel that now, and she realized she had to get that across to him. "Ryan." She reached out and touched his foot, waited for him to look up at her. "I am so glad to have you back. To have you home where you belong. With us."

He kept his lips tight, and he nodded. "I'm glad to be here too."

She smiled and let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Good." She was about to broach the subject of what caused his return when Sandy stuck his head in the door.

"There you two are. Come on, the food's getting cold."

Kirsten stood up and looked back at Ryan. "Are you coming?"

He nodded and stood up. "Do you think he remembered the rice this time?"

Sandy put his hand over his heart. "Oh, you wound me. I get no respect in this family." He put one arm around Ryan and the other around Kirsten as they walked to the backdoor. "A person forgets the rice one time, and they never forget it. Am I ever going to live that down?"

Ryan glanced over at Kirsten and grinned. "Nope."

THE END


End file.
